Cathy Marie Buchanan

Growing up in Niagara Falls, Ontario, I took classes as a young girl and became very serious about ballet, and also performed with a local company, although it wasn't a professional company. ”

It breaks my heart that we are always being nudged toward the most recently published books, when so many worthy books have gone unexplored. ”

I'm very comfortable with tweeting, I have a very active author Facebook page, I Skype book clubs all over the world. ”

I really became convinced I wanted to tell the story of the real-life model for the Degas sculpture 'Little Dancer Aged 14,' which was unveiled in 1881, the Belle Epoque. ”

I don't wait for inspiration. I get up and write every day. ”

Edgar Degas's famous sculpture, 'Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,' served as my muse for 'The Painted Girls.' I came upon a television documentary on the work, and as someone who held the sculpture in high esteem and who largely considered ballet to be the high-minded pursuit of privileged young girls, I was struck by what I would learn. ”